Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate his Department has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on levels of demand for public transport.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Latest data on public transport usage is made available each day as part of the daily coronavirus update. The data and slides can be found at the following webpage
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/slides-and-datasets-to-accompany-coronavirus-press-conferences
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will suspend all work on High Speed Two for 12 months in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government will do whatever is necessary to deal with Covid-19 now and will also continue to invest in the country’s future infrastructure.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what investigations into extending the HS2 Chiltern Tunnels are ongoing; and when a final decision will be made on any such extension.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The House of Commons Select Committee considered the possibility of a bored tunnel passing through the whole of the Chilterns AONB, continuing north of Wendover, in great detail. The proposal was rejected, primarily on the grounds of cost.
The Committee did however recommended a 2.6km extension of the bored tunnel (originally to be 13.4 km long) to South Heath, which was a significant change made by AP4, introduced on 12 October 2015.
Since Royal Assent for the Phase One Act in February 2017, HS2 Ltd have been proceeding on the basis of the tunnel design as set out in the Act. There are no investigations into extending the tunnel and no plans to do so.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with representatives of the Environment Agency on the risk of (a) damage and (b) pollution of the chalk aquifers in the Chilterns as a result of tunnelling activity by HS2 Ltd.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As the new dedicated Minister of State for HS2, I will hold discussions with governmental and non-governmental organisations involved in or affected by HS2 construction and delivery as necessary. HS2 Ltd, which is responsible for the safe construction of HS2, has been working closely with experts from the Environment Agency and Affinity Water for a number of years to ensure that HS2 construction work does not cause contamination of the chalk aquifer, or in any way affect the ongoing provision of high quality drinking water from it.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the extent of the (a) damage and (b) pollution of the chalk aquifers in the Chilterns as a result of the tunnelling activity of HS2 Ltd.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Environmental Statement for Phase One of HS2 reports the results of the environmental impact assessment. This includes the effects on water resources, which are reported in volume 5: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hs2-phase-one-environmental-statement-volume-5-water-resources
HS2 Ltd, which is responsible for the safe construction of HS2, has been working closely with experts from the Environment Agency and Affinity Water for a number of years to ensure that HS2 construction work does not cause contamination of the chalk aquifer, or in any way affect the ongoing provision of high quality drinking water from it.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the HS2 Ltd Phase One Planning Forum minutes for November 2019 will be published.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Phase One Planning Forum planned for 21st November 2019 was cancelled as a result of the pre-election period restrictions, so there are no minutes.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the names of the chair and attendees to the September 2019 meeting of the HS2 Phase One Planning Forum have been redacted in the minutes for that meeting.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
HS2 Ltd redacts personal data from the HS2 Phase One Planning Forum minutes in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what HS2 Ltd's total budget is for development of the new construction skills training school on the Maria Fidelis School site; and what the prices are for contracts with (a) Conisbee, (b) Beadmans, (c) Max Fordham and (d) ADW Developments for the initial works on the new building on that site.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In accordance with assurances provided to Camden Council, HS2 Ltd are contributing funding to this project. As is stated in HS2 Ltd’s Register of Undertakings and Assurances the Secretary of State will require the nominated undertaker (HS2 Ltd) to make a contribution up to a maximum of £4,100,000 towards the cost of the construction, property costs, fitting out and ongoing running costs of the skills centre. This commitment was secured during the passage of the High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) Bill, which received Royal Assent on 23 February 2017.
Overall responsibility for delivery of the skills centre sits with Camden Council (i.e. the contracts are not held by HS2 Ltd).
HS2 Ltd and its relevant contractors are working with Camden Council to ensure that the Construction Skills Centre will deliver skills and employment services that are relevant to HS2 Ltd’s needs.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the (a) date of commissioning, (b) date of production and (c) fees payable for each report commissioned by HS2 Ltd from PwC.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
HS2 Ltd regularly seeks advice from experts and consultants to help deliver the project in the most efficient way possible. The costs incurred with PwC are strictly controlled through HS2 Ltd’s procurement and contractual management processes.
HS2 Ltd has engaged with PwC on a variety of work since 2013, and they have provided services to HS2 Ltd which include (but is not limited to):
Auditing Services; Internal Auditing; Professional Procurement Services; Accountancy Services; Assurance and Risk Services; Commercial services; Economic Research; Engineering Services - Surveying and Building Valuation; Finance Consultancy; Procurement Consultancy; Property and Construction Consultancy; Strategic Consultancy; and Technical Consultancy.
All HS2 Ltd Expenditure over £25,000 is published on a monthly basis here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dft-departmental-spending-over-25000.
Asked by: Cheryl Gillan (Conservative - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason the payment of £11,864,405.23 on 11 September 2019 made by HS2 Ltd to Balfour Beatty for Main Works Civils Contractor Stage One TP included a 20 per cent contingency.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Payments are made to contracting entities working on the HS2 project in accordance with the terms of their contracts. As with all commercial relationships, it would not be appropriate to expand on individual transactions as this would prejudice commercial interests. The House will be regularly updated on the costs of HS2 following the Government’s decision and published Oakervee Review.